Watcher's Council Nominations

Ah, Christmas...a time for warmth and family, as the Dropkick Murphys remind us:



No worries Ken..we know you're just funnin'...




But also, on more serous note, a time for faith:



At this time, our thoughts and prayers need to go out for Christians under siege in the Middle East and elsewhere, where, with the exception of Israel, the one country in the Middle East where the Christian population is actually growing,



This shares something with the Holocaust, because once again there is an obscene conspiracy of silence and cowardice by the West to avoid confronting the perpetrators and protecting or at least providing a haven to the victims.For instance, President Obama, who likes to remind us that he is a Christian just sent troops to the new country of South Sudan because of tribal unrest there between the government and a rival tribal faction. He never saw fit to do anything like that to protect these people from assault by the Arab Islamist government of the Sudan and the orgy of rape, torture and murder perpetrated on Black Christians by the Muslim Janjiweed militias in South Sudan and Darfur. Nothing.



At this time of year, I urge all of us to pray for these beleaguered Christians and to raise holy you-know-what to demand that our respective governments to put these Christians' lives and well being ahead of appeasing Islam. I run a serious risk of operating outside my pay grade here, as our president would say, but I flatter myself in thinking that I think it's what Jesus would expect... not only of Christians but of all of us.



OK, rant over. Sorry about that.



Welcome to the , a blogging group consisting of some of the most incisive blogs in the 'sphere, and in our second decade the longest running group of its kind in existence. Every week, the members nominate two posts each, one written by themselves and one written by someone from outside the group for consideration by the whole Council.Then we vote on the best two posts, with the results appearing on Friday morning.



Council News:



TODAY IS NOT ONLY CHRISTMAS DAY, but additionally special in that it is the birthday of our friend and colleague Dave Schuler, of .



Ordinarily, I pick out a cake and some liquid libation for these celebrations, and this is no exception.



German chocolate, I think:



And perhaps chilled Veuve Cliquot to drink...brut, of course.



Dave and I have known each other for some time now. In fact, he predates me on the Council. When I first got the nod from the original Watcher, I replaced a blog called New Sisyphus, if memory serves me, and I remember he wrote something to the effect that he had enjoyed New Sisyphus but was going to wait and see on this Joshuapundit fella. I hope I've lived up to his expectations...certainly he's lived up to mine. I have never ceased to appreciate his wide range of interests, his clarity of thought, his dry sense of humor or the friendship and collegiality we've shared.



Many, many happy returns Dave.



This week, , , , and took advantage of my generous offer of link whorage and earned honorable mention status.



You can, too! Want to see your work appear on the Watcher's Council homepage in our weekly contest listing? Didn't get nominated by a Council member? No worries. Here's how to bring something you want considered to my attention.



Simply head over to and post the title a link to the piece you want considered along with an e-mail address ( which won't be published) in the comments section no later than Monday 6PM PST in order to be considered for our honorable mention category. Then return the favor by creating a post on your site linking to the Watcher's Council contest for the week when it comes out Wednesday morning



Simple, no?



It's a great way of exposing your best work to Watcher's Council readers and Council members. while grabbing the increased traffic and notoriety. And how good is that, eh?



So, let's take a look at what we have this week....and our heartfelt wishes to all of you for a joyous and blessed Christmas from the Watcher's Council:



COUNCIL SUBMISSIONS



* THE NOISY ROOM -

* LIBERTY'S SPIRIT -

* THE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR -

* JOSHUAPUNDIT-

* SIMPLY JEWS -

* GREAT SATAN"S GIRLFRIEND -

* THE RIGHT PLANET -

* BOOKWORM ROOM -

* NICE DEB-

* RHYMES WITH RIGHT -

* THE COLOSSUS OF RHODEY -

* THE RAZOR -

* VA RIGHT! -

* THE GLITTERING EYE -

* THE MELLOW JIHADI -



HONORABLE MENTIONS



* ASK MARION -

* THE INDEPENDENT SENTINEL -

* RIGHT TRUTH -

* THE PIRATE'S COVE-



NON-COUNCIL SUBMISSIONS



* LARRY CORREIA/MONSTER HUNTER NATION - submitted by THE NOISY ROOM

* BRET STEPHENS/WSJ- submitted by LIBERTY'S SPIRIT

* DOLLAR VIGILANTE-submitted by THE POLITICAL COMMENTATOR

* VICTOR DAVIS HANSON - submitted by JOSHUAPUNDIT

* NICK NIPCLOSE- submitted by SIMPLY JEWS

*PRESSURE POINTS- submitted by GREAT SATAN"S GIRLFRIEND

* DAVID J. SHESTOKAS- submitted by THE RIGHT PLANET

* JOHN O'SULLIVAN/NRO-submitted by BOOKWORM ROOM

* WASHINGTON FREE BEACON - submitted by NICE DEB

* BIG JOLLY POLITICS- submitted by RHYMES WITH RIGHT

* BUCKHORN ROAD- submitted by THE COLOSSUS OF RHODEY

* THE PEOPLE'S CUBE- submitted by THE RAZOR

* ARNOLD KLING- submitted by THE GLITTERING EYE

*CATO@LIBERTY- submitted by THE WATCHER

*JOHN KASS/ CHICAGO TRIBUNE- submitted by THE WATCHER

*ADRIENNE ROYER/THE FEDERALIST- submitted by WATCHER



Enjoy! And don't forget to like us on and follow us ..'cause we're cool like that!



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